We
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3.7 • 233 Ratings
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Publisher Description
An Apple Books Classic edition.
What happens when feelings get in the way of order? What is the price of perfecting society? Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We, like many of the dystopian novels that came after it, plays on our fears of being watched and controlled, of human emotions being criminalized. A lively critique of authoritarianism, We holds the honor of being the first book banned by the Soviet government. Zamyatin managed to get a copy of his novel to the United States, where it was published in 1924.
We is set in a future world where there are no individual names—only numbers. The book opens with D-503 sharing the news that the spaceship he’s been building is complete. The United State, which rules Earth, can now find other planets with which to share their “mathematically infallible happiness.” But then, D-503 meets I-330, and despite not being assigned to her, he falls in love. It makes no sense: I-330 smokes, drinks, encourages imagination—all very illegal acts that would result in public execution. So, what will D-503 say when I-330 asks for help with mounting a rebellion against the United State? Pick up a dystopian novel that predates bestsellers like 1984, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Brave New World.
Customer Reviews
If you like dystopian novels….
Listening to this audiobook is interesting, the narrator does sound a little robotic at times but it adds another level on to this technocratic dystopia this novel is trying to convey. It feels similar to Orwell’s “1984” and Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451” . Though there’s not as much detail as either of those novels. This novel though is becoming increasingly relevant to today as the information age keeps blurring the lines of personal privacy and authoritative surveillance grows across the board. Overall, the themes of this novel are interesting - but its basically an episode of “Black Mirror” but with less drama.
3.74 - Profound, but too poetic
I didn’t know it was possible to be too poetic. The first act is interesting. From there, it gets so confusing. The author’s writing style is beautiful, unique, and interesting, but it makes it so hard to know what’s happening. One time, I thought a character died. Then they did something and I was like… “Oh, so they’re alive?” It’s hard to explain. Still worth reading, especially if you can navigate through the flowery writing.
Disappointing
Very odd language did not seem to be used to actually help make the idea of the book better understood, reminds me of many of the overly political scifi of the cold war